software

If you're not using Root Explorer on your rooted Android phone or tablet, you should be. It's an easy way to work with the files on your device, using a graphical interface that so many of us are used to. To make a good thing even better, while updating things to work with Gingerbread (thanks to the release of the SDK), Speed Software has added a couple changes to make things even better --...

Skyfire just released their cool new social networking browser, and you know we had to get our hands on it. It just so happens that we have a Viewsonic gTablet at our disposal, so we figured -- what better way to test out a new version of Skyfire, than on hardware that isn't running a "phone style" version of Android. If it breaks, we need to know and let you know, and if it works, well that's...

The Verizon Samsung Fascinate is set to get another maintenance update over the next few weeks -- no, it's not Froyo -- and we got a sneak peak at an early version. GPS has been targeted, and it's looking better in early testing. Signal strength has been addressed. Also, the backlight settings are a little better, which helps the capacitive buttons stay lit longer. That's just the tip of the...

Yes, folks, we're well aware that Angry Birds will drop any minute now (through more likely in a few hours). And, yes, we're well aware that there's a "leaked" full version out there that's got Google ads built in. Pretty crafty, eh? A "leaked" version of an extremely popular game that contains ads surfaces just as anticipation crescendos. Hmmmmmm. (Actually, it probably just means there will be...

Opera Mobile for Android has been in beta for what seems like forever -- we first got a look at it at Mobile World Congress way back in February. But it's nearing completion, and the popular mobile browser should be released within a month, Opera announced on its blog this morning. It's trumpeting full hardware acceleration and pinch-to-zoom at the low levels. Will it take over as our daily...

Sprint just posted that an update is coming to the Evo 4G. It says that Version 3.29.651.5 shall contain fixes for calendar event edit issues and syncing of multiple gmail accounts, both of which have been subject of complaints for some time now. But wait. There's more. Maybe. Word of the update actually started late last night at SDX Developers, and jerdog says that in addition to the gmail and...

Sometimes life has us on the go and we're not able to focus on the written word (even if only to get our Android news!), and that's where BuzzVoice steps in. The popular iOS app is now available for Android, and BuzzVoice has been gracious enough to give us ten copies to give away!To enter, hit the forum post here and follow the easy instructions. Each copy is valued at $4.99 USD, and for...

Waiting for the G2 to release on T-mobile and feeling impatient? If you're into the hackery fun, you can download and check out what looks to be the leaked engineering test ROM right now. The ROM is Android 2.2 (Froyo), has a HSDPA 14.4M + HSUPA 5.76M radio file, and is running the 2.6.32 Linux kernel. You can grab the leaked file here (site's in Han Chinese, use Google translate FTW). Looks...

I might have just found my perfect Android travel app. Worldmate is now in beta for Android, and it pretty much combines every feature I need in an app to keep me pointed in the right direction while on the road. You'll start by either signing in or signing up with Worldmate, which was painless enough. Then you sign into the app and are greeted by the screen you see above. Let's work our way...

You know we couldn't help ourselves. When a leaked build of Android 2.2 for the Motorola Droid X was outed by My Droid World, we had to take it for a spin. You're not going to find too many UI changes over what you're used to on the X. (The lock screen's been changed, for what that's worth.) But there are a number of under-the-hood improvements (many of which we've covered in our Froyo Features...

Finally out of beta, Adobe has pushed the official build of Flash 10.1 to the Android Market for Nexus One devices. After a string of beta builds, the application is finally stable enough for Adobe and you'll be able to download 10.1.92.8 directly from the Market (or upgrade to it if you're using one of the betas) from your Nexus One. Motorola Droid users will soon be able to download Flash from...

Adobe this morning at the Flash Summit in San Francisco let it be known that Adobe AIR 2.5 will be available in the foruth quarter of 2010. "The 2.x line has been about taking this broader," Adobe said. "AIR is about building applications." Adobe isn't yet ready to announce how AIR will be distributed -- whether it will be OTA updates, or preinstalled on devices, but announcements are very...

A quick programming note: We're in San Francisco today with a bunch of other bloggers (hi, guys and gals!) for the Adobe Flash Summit. We're expecting a healthy dose of Flash, AIR, gaming and even Google TV, plus a whole lot of lively discussion between the Adobe folks and those of us who type for a living. Should make for an interesting meet-up, and we'll share what we can throughout the day. (...

We've already played around with an early leaked build of the Tweetdeck Twitter client for Android, but now the beta period is in full swing, and we can all get our Twitter/Facebook/Buzz/Foursquare thing on. You're going to have to register with Tweetdeck and wait for them to send you the app (took about 5 minutes for me), and then you can get your beta on. Tell 'em Android Central sent 'cha. [...

Who doesn't love a good trebuchet? Who doesn't love castles? And who doesn't love using a trebuchet to knock down a castle? That brings us to Namco's Crush the Castle, an Android game that will undoubtedly bring to mind another game about surly avian creatures. But what we have here is a simple premise. There's a trebuchet, and there's a castle, and one of 'em is gonna leave on the ground. There...

SwiftKey, one of our favorite keyboards, just added a much-wanted feature that many popular third-party keyboards lack: speech to text. The microphone gets a dedicated button in its familiar spot to the left of the space bar, but the implementation is slightly different from what most of us are used to.Pressing it brings up a blank screen with the "Speak now" dialog rather than staying on the...

Welcome to the big time, Android users -- the first Android-specific trojan has been announced by Kaspersky Lab. Don't sound the alarms and clang the bells just yet, as even with 200,000 activations a day this thing (so far) is as rare as an honest politician. If you are unlucky enough to install it, the trojan will send premium SMS messages (as in the kind that add money to your monthly...

Android's official Facebook app just got a pretty major upgrade in Version 1.3.0. You'll immediate notice the difference in the user interface, with a photo reel at the bottom that lets you quickly flip through your friends' recent photos and videos. And see that notifications bar at the bottom? Drag it up for the list of recent notifications. There's also one-tap access to post a status update...

So you want to update your Motorola Droid to Android 2.2, do ya? Go ahead. We're all for it. For everybody else who's content to wait until the over-the-air update hits, we'll show you what you're missing. But first, a couple of caveats: As of this writing, it looks like copy-protected apps aren't showing in the Android Market. They should clear itself up at some point. That also means no Adobe...

We took the Log Me In Ignition VNC app for a spin a couple of months ago, and now it's available in the Android Market. For those of you not familiar with VNC, it's a standard way of controlling one computer from another -- in this case, your Android phone. Check out the video again after the break, where you'll also find download links. [Log Me In]